FO Friday: Christmas Gift Edition

Since I have utterly failed at posting my finished objects as I finished them this month, I figured I would just put them all together in one epic post today :) Just to warn you, this is a long one, but there are plenty of pictures.

First up is my husband's birthday hat. I actually finished this in November and never posted it  here.

It's all just knit in k2p2 rib until the decreases at the top. He chose the color and everything, although he has yet to wear it, lol.

I love looking at the nice swirl going on at the top. It was incredibly easy to make and I hope my husband enjoys it.

Next up is the Hello Kitty for my sister. Isn't she cute?! Honestly I couldn't be happier with how it came out. The face may have given me some trouble, but the rest went very smoothly.

And the back shot. I love that she has thumbs! I will probably use that technique on other animals to come just because it's so cute.

I freehand-designed the dress myself. I was really going for the classic Hello Kitty and I just couldn't find any patters already out there that were right. So, I started off with foundation single crochet and made a strand long enough to go around her hips. I just went up and down from there, connecting and decreasing/increasing, etc. I'm really happy with its shape.

Also for Shannon, I made this Hello Kitty style headband, lol. She's in Japan, so I think this will help her fit right in, don't you? I used this free pattern for the headband and then just used circles overlapped for the bow. Embroidering the black took some patience, but it paid off.

Here is another requested item. My sister Marisa's Lattice Cowl. This baby has 2.3 skeins of Lion Brand Hometown USA! I had to go buy a third skein a few weeks after buying the initial 2 skeins, and do you think Walmart still had any of the same dye lot? Of course they didn't. So, the front section is a slightly different color in certain lighting. Hopefully she likes it other than that. I think it matches the inspiration photo really well :)

The buttons all come undone and can be fastened pretty much anywhere you want since it's all double crochet.

I also finished the broomstick lace scarf for my mother-in-law. I'm really loving how it came out and I really have a new found respect for Lion Brand Microspun yarn. At first i hated working with it, but I've really become attached to it now. It drapes so nicely!

I added a picot edging just for extra flare.

And the scarf was started in foundation single crochet so I was able to neatly pick up to do the edge. It looks a little different than the other side, but honestly I don't think anyone but a knitter/crocheter would notice.

In EPIC news, I was able to finish my Red Rosie Hat! It was a small miracle, and one that convinced me that I needed a set of Knitter's Pride Dreamz interchangeable needles :) I was really having a problem with the Boye fixed circular I was using, but I ordered the Knitter's Pride Comby Set to see which type of needle set I wanted for Christmas from my parents. It just so happened that the set included a size 8 which is what this hat needed, so I just switched over to that new needle and had a grand time. It's amazing the difference when you have really flexible cables while you're trying to do magic loop knitting.

This is the Rosie Hat pattern from Knit Lab: Hats Four Ways class on Craftsy. It's my first experience with magic loop knitting, cables, a purl background, blocking on a plate, and my Knitter's Pride needle :) I love how all the cables converge in the center - it's so pretty!

And here it is from the bottom just for good measure. I haven't gotten to get pics of me wearing it yet, but hopefully they are to come soon. Also, the yarn is a much deeper red than it shows up in there photos - these shots make it look red/orange but it's more red/blue. It's made in Cascade 220 Superwash in Ruby.

I also finished the ties for my latest wig :) I can't wait to unveil this project, but I have a few more wigs to make first.

And last but not least, my FINAL HOMEMADE CHRISTMAS GIFT - the Bobble Beard Beanie for my brother, Briggs. He specifically requested this, I made it all except the last 1/2 of the last round of the beard because I ran out of yarn. Luckily, I was able to swing by Joann's on Wednesday night and grab a new skein of the brown yarn, phew, and I finished this up last night.

I altered the pattern so that the beard is removable. I added button loops to the corners on the beard and buttons to the inside of the ribbing on the beanie. The result looks pretty good, I must say :) I'm excited to see he face when he opens it!

So that's pretty much what my last few months of knitting and crocheting has looked like, lol. If you want to see what others have finished this week, head over to Tami's Amis' blog!

WIP Wednesday: Another Christmas Gift!

So I've still been making Christmas gifts, but this week I actually have something to show that it still in progress :)

*Shannon - if you are reading this, stop now!*

I'm almost finished making a Hello Kitty :) I used this pattern which is a free pattern I found through Ravelry. I did modify the pattern a bit to make her shorter - I shortened every piece from the head to the legs, I just left out a few plain stitch rows here and there. The pattern pieces were a breeze to make, but holy cow the head...

This head and face too me almost 2 hours to assemble! The pattern gives no directions as to placement of anything, so you just have to eye-ball it all. Which entailed me stitching an ear on, not liking how round or flat it was, picking it off, then staring at both ears on the head thinking it just didn't look right... The eyes were nuts - I think I stitched and then unpicked them about 8 times before I liked them. I'm happy with the outcome and I think the face looks great, but because of the lack of instruction there I would not recommend this pattern unless you've made a lot of amigurumi before.

So here she is in all her naked glory, lol. I'm still going to make her a dress and then attach her head. I have to make up my own pattern for the dress since the one the pattern gives is knitted and I need it faster than that. This baby needs to be in a box on its way to Japan this week! So, hopefully she is naked no more after tonight :)

I'm very excited to show my items that I've finished over the last 2 weeks (since I was so crazy busy I forgot to post it last week). So check back for them on Friday :)

To see what others are making this week, check out Tami's Amis' blog!